Open-side furnace



w. SfROCKWELL.

OPEN SIDE FURNACE.

I APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4.19M).

1 ,359,532, Patenmd Nov. 23, 1920.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY W. S. ROCKWELL.

OPENSIDE FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4, 1919.

1,3559%93. PatntedNov. 23,1920.

4 SHEETS-43M 2- 0 lNVENTOR D MZZ 7?:rwwadl ATTORNEY W. S. ROCKWELL.

. OPEN SIDE FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4. 1919. 1,359,532, Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

MQ K/IM ATTORNEY W, S. ROCKWELL.

OPEN -SIDE FURNACE- PLICATION FILED NOV. 4, 1919.

1,359,532., Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

ATTORNEY UNE'EE srnrss VTALTER S. ROCKWELL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

COMPANY, OF NEVJ' YORK, N. Y.,

ASSIGNOR 1'0 W. S. ROCKWELL A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

OPEN-SIDE FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

Application filed November 4, 1919. Serial No. 335,602.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, W ALTER S. RooKwnLL, a citizen of the United States,residing at 300 West 106th street, New York, county of New York, andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOpen-Side Furnaces, fully described and represented in the followingspecification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The object of this invention is to provide a heating-furnace with anoblong heating chamber and a series of contiguous doors covering thelonger side of said chamber. When the doors are all raised, suchheatingchamber is adapted to receive sidewise and heat long objects(like steamship propeller shafts), and this long chamber is also capableof division by partitions into a series (as two or more) of independentspaces for operating upon pieces much shorter than the entire initialchamber.

The partitions are movable into and out of the initial chamber which ismade with flat roof to nearly touch the tops of the partitions, and thebottoms of the partitions are mounted upon balls or other anti-fricti'onsupports in runways arranged to guide them transversely of the chamber.

The roof of the chamber is not only flat to fit the tops of thepartitions, but is nec essarily overhung throughout its entire length,and its weight supported independent of the furnacewalls by a cantaliverstructure of beams extended above the roof from trussed standards at therear side of the furnace.

Independent means is provided for heat ing each of the divisional spacesseparately, when the partitions are inserted, and the furnace can thusbe economically used in heating relatively short pieces, while it isalso adapted to receive long pieces transversely by removin thepartitions.

The drawing shows an underiired furnace, and in such construction thecombustionchamber is necessarily located below the floor-level of themill, so that the floor of the heating-chamber may be level with themillfloor to permit the charging of the furnace by a truck.

One embodiment of the invention is shown in the annexed drawing, inwhich Figure 1 is an elevation of the furnace, in section where hatched,on the center line of the furnace; Fig. 2 is a plan in section at therighthand end upon the line :aw in Fig. 1, and at the left-hand end uponthe line g -g in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section on line 3--3in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a cross section of the heating-chamber with amodified arrangement of the sp'ent-gas-flue; and Fig. 5 is a diagram, inperspective, of the body of the furnace with the doors raised and jamtitions removed to utilize the entire heating chamber at once.

Such chamber is designated A in Figs. 3 and 5, and the spaces A, A A andA in the other figures are transverse divisions of such chamber formedby the movable partitions a, which are supported by balls of in runwaysor floor-rails b, grooved to guide the balls. The spaces are closed byseparate doors E.

hen the partitions are removed, as shown in Fig. 5, one or more trucks Bmay be mounted on the balls 0: to support a shaft or bar B whichrequires the whole length of the furnace to heat it. Such shaft is thusmoved transversely into the furnace, instead of lengthwise, as is usualwith relatively short shafts or pieces. The partitions a and truck 13are of refractory construction, as is necessary.

A combustion-chamber C is shown beneath each of the spaces A to A, andconnected with said spaces by the hot gas fines e entering the floor ofeach space at its front and rear ends, as shown in Fig. 2.

Spent gas-fines e and are shown extended from the floor of eachdivisional space separately to a common duct D which would be connectedto a chimney. Burneropenings 6 are shown, and any means of heating thecombustion-chamber may be used.

Where it is not convenient to lead the spent gases downwardly, they maybe carried upwardly as shown in Fig. i, by fiues e in the wall of theheating-chamber.

A preheater a for the air used in combustion, is shown in Fig. throughwhich the spent gases pass; heating the air-coil s which is suppliedthrough the inlet t and discharged through the outlet 23 to thefuelburners.

The construction described thus provides means to heat each civisionalspace A to A separately, such means also operating conjointly to heatthe entire initial chamber when the partitions are removed, as in Fig.5.

T he disposition of the separate heating means a series of points in thewidthot the heating-chamber, enables the operator to regulate the heatdiii'erent points, and thus utilize the fuel most etiiciently.

It is common to arch the root of furnacechambers, but in the presentinvention the root is entirely flat, and may be supported independentlyof the furnacewalls, and therefore needs no abutment for an arch. Theuse of movable partitions makes a fiat roof necessary, to permit thepartitions to slide into the chamber, and stand close to the root. Sucha flat root is not self-supporting like an arch, and means is thereforeprovided, independent of the furnace-walls, to support the roof 9intermediate to its end walls 9 and free or clear of the rear wall anddoors.

Figs. 1 and 4t show a clearance 1) between he edge of the roof and theadjacent walls, and Fig. 3 shows the rear wall rabbeted at i) to clearthe roof and forming a bent passage to retain a refractory material (asasbestos) which would obstruct the escape of the hot gases.

The supporting means is preferably arranged at a distance above thefurnace where it will not be injuriously affected by the heat of theroot, and may be connected adjustably to the roof; so that the tensionor the supporting rods may be regulated to correspond with any expansionor distortion of the roof as an effect of heat.

The floor of the heating-chamber A is necessarily at the level e of themill-floor, and the combustion-chambers are shown as in a pit ofsuitable depth, and standards it trussed by braces it are shown anchoredin the earth below the floor-level c', and further stiffened bytoot-bars j joined to the bottoms of the standards 72 extended below thebody of the combustion-chamber.

Each of the frames thus formed is pro Vided at the-top with. a braced.cantaliver beam 70 extended transversely above the root p. and connectedto the roo'l by hangers or suspension rods Z which are secureddetachably to transverse suspending bars we having each a flange anembedded in the upper side it, and

of the roof. The rods Z have adjusting-nuts a fitted to the tops thebeams 70 to vary the tension of each rod until they support equalproportions 01"- the entire load.

To equalize the strain, all the rods are connected jointly with all thesuspendingm by means of joint-plates formed of two opposed channel-ironsZ fitted to heads upon the rods Z and upon clevises pivoted to the barsat, t s shown in Fig. 3. The rods Z ma thus be tightened to distributethe load of the roof equally upon all the suspendingbars m.

Figs. 3 and. 5 show bars r transversely connecting the beams is, andsupporting pulleys p which carry the chains Q that sustain the separatedoors it and their counterbalanceweights E.

The doors have loose tongue and groove joint 0, 0, at their adjacentedges, to guide each in a vertical path wh n raised independently of theothers, as shown in Fig. 2.

Very heavy loads may bi carried by the truck B into and out of theheating-chamber it is evident that the runways h, 72, must,notwithstanding such loads, be permanently sustained at the same levelas the floor of the furnace, so that the trucks may be IQHLLELY unwedinto the chamber A, upon the runways.

To sustain the runways firmly, the frame termed oi the bars h and j isextended upward to the level of the runways by bars and braces whichserve additionally, as shown in "Fig. 3, to brace or support the frontside cl he masonry about the combustionchamber C.

Tillie location of the beams .70 (which carry the roof weight)materially above the roof, preserves the supporting parts effectivelyfrom the heat of the furnace, and thus enables them to furnish a firmstationary support for the roof.

It is evident that with a horizontal heating chamber a very long shaftmay be much more readily charged into the furnace, and withdrawn andquenched, than in a vertical furnace in which the shaft would be removedand quenched vertically.

It will be understood that the partitions are of such fiat form thatwhen they are not in use they may (by the aid of a crane) be grouped ina small pile where they will not interfere'with the use of a truck, asB, upon the same runways that sustain the p artitions. T he runways thusperform a double function in the use of the furnace; in sup porting boththe partitions and the trucks independently. 7

It will be understood that the width of the furnace is the spaceoccupied by the series oi doors,and as the expansion of a roof 40 to 60feet in width is very considerable when highly heated, means is providedin this invention to permit such expansion without injury to the roofand the adjacent walls.

Such means consists of the clearance space n or e, which is shown in thedrawing at the ends and rear edge of the roof. Such a clearance spaceentirely relieves the end and rear walls of the furnace from the Weightof the roof, and this feature distinguishes the invention from anyconstruction in which the roof is supported wholly or substantially uponthe walls of the furnace.

The construction prevents the expansion of the roof from straining orpushing the Walls outwardly and thus preserves them from suchunnecessary injury.

The clearance space between the roof and the side-walls thus performsthe double function of permitting expansion, and re lieving theside-walls from the weight of the roof, which is transferred wholly orsubstantially to the suspending means.

It is obvious that all the advantages of the independently supportedroof may be realized by arranging the cantaliver beam close to the roof,with shorter supporting connections between the two, if circumstancesrequired such an arrangement.

A notched roll a is shown supporting the shaft B upon each of the endtrucks B, to permit the expansion of the shaft when heated but is notclaimed herein as it has been claimed separately by Richard C. Drinkerin application No. 328,164 filed October 3, 1919. The shaft may bewedged up on the center truck, to divide the load with the end trucks.The subject-matter of the present application was disclosed in a priorapplication filed September 2, 1919, with Serial No. 321,126, whichapplication has been abandoned.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention what is claimed hereinis:

l. A heatingfurnace having a heating chamber with a series of contiguousdoors closing its longer side, a roof fitted between the walls of thechamber and the said doors ,with clearance to provide for expansion,

and means projected above the furnace and connected to the roof forsupporting the same.

2. A heating-furnace having an oblong heating-chamber with a series ofcontiguous doors closing its longer side, a roof fitted between theside-walls of the chamber with clearance to provide for expansion, andmeans projected above the furnace from the rear side thereof andconnected to the roof for supporting the same in its operative positionindependently of the side-walls.

3. A heating-furnace having an oblong heating-chamber with a series ofcontiguous doors closing its longer side, runways extended transverselyinto the heating-chamher, and oneor more .trucks'movable upon suchrunways for carrying a long bar into the chamber transversely of'itslength.

at. A heatingfurnace having a refractory roof, means provided intherooffor the attachment of suspension-rods, a frame with beams extended fromthe rear of the furnace over its roof, and suspension-rods connectingthe saidv beams with the roof.

5. A heatingfurnace constructed as in claim 4, and having trussedstandards at the rear side of the furnace, and braced cantaliver beamsprojected from the standards above the furnace to sustain thesuspension-rods.

6. A heatingfurnace constructed as in claim 4, and having a jointconnection between all the suspension-rods and the attachments to theroof to equalize the loads thereon.

7 A heating-furnace having a heatingchamber with an over-hung roof,means provided in the roof for the. attachment of suspension-rods,trussed standards in the rear of the furnace with beams projected overthe roof and suspension-rods connecting the beams to the roof, andanchor beams attached to the standards and extended below the body ofthe heating-chamber.

8. A heating-furnace constructed as in claim 7 and having the anchorbeams of the standards extended beneath the masonry of thecombustion-chamber of the furnace.

9. A heatingfurnace having an oblong heating-chamber and provided with afiat roof and one or more partitions movable into and out of theheating-chamber, to form independent heating-spaces.

10. A heating-furnace having a heatingchamber with a flat stationaryroof, means above the roof with connections for supporting the sameclear from the furnace Walls, and one or more partitions movable intoand out of the heating-chamber, to form independent heating-spaces.

11. A heating-furnace constructed according to claim 10 and having meansfor separately heating the said independent spaces.

12. A heating-furnace constructed according to claim 10, and havingseparate combustion-chambers beneath the spaces formed by thepartitions, with means to supply such combustion-chambers independentlywith fuel for combustion.

13. A heating-furnace having a heatingchamber of much greater width thanlength, with an overhung roof, and means to suspend the same over suchchamber independently of the furnace-walls, a series, as two or more, ofrefractory partitions movable into and out of said chamber to formindependent heating-spaces, means for separately heating saidindependent spaces, and movable doors fitted to separately close each ofthe said spaces, and to close the entire chamber when the partltions arenot in use.

14. A heating-furnace having a heatnigchamber with an overhung rooftransverse runways extended into such chamber, trussed standards at therear of the furnace with beams projected over the furnace roof, andsuspension-rods or hangers connecting the beams to the roof, anchorbeams at- 10 tacheci to the standards, and extended heneath the furnaceand beyond the front side of the same, and an upward extension of theframe at the front side of the furnace beneath each of the runways, tohold the same level with the floor of the heating- .15

my hand.

WALTER S. ROCKWELL.

